Vharg is correct with his math. I don't know how many other PC's can give you a bonus from spirit of community, so let us know and those that can may chime in if they want to give the bonus, but currently you're at 23. Also, if there are PC's who can't give a bonus (due to ability cap or something) they can instead just attempt a standard Aid Another roll. Basically you can't have both SoC bonus and Aid Another is my ruling.

Father Grimburrow, it is imperative we gain access to these items. We are willing to brave the potential danger of Harrowstone if it means preventing danger to your fine town but the items in the crypt would be very helpful.

"Where better to turn to against the possible forces of undeath than the church?" Randu agrees with the others, "We would, of course, report what we learned to you when we return what we could of what we were lent."

Mortimer holds back in this, though even his presence as a noble and a capable warrior is of some benefit, thanks to Ilya's inspiring powers. I will keep my opinions to myself. I will not be of any better help to my friends if I tell this priest what I really think of he and his ilk.

"Whatever the good Professor was working on at the prison, he went into it at great personal risk and died. That means the prison may still hold answers as to whatever the Whispering Way intended. Father for Teacher Lorimor's soul and the future of Ravengro we must be allowed access to whatever will help us find those answers! Who knows what the Way may unleash on your town now that he is gone?" Perrah starts off calm but she ends in passion, desperate to help win over the priest.

Bluff to aid another since she is definitely exaggerating the truth 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 2 = 22

Perrah keeps her tail hidden barely and tries hard not to move too close to him.

Grimburrow listens to your points quietly, his face a mask of thought. After you finish he gives a slight nod. You're right, it does sound like things are more worrisome than most know. I don't know what you'll find, I'm not aware of any hidden cache of items but you have mine and the church's blessing to look. I would just ask that you be respectful in your search.

Huzzah hitting the DC this time around, plus getting the Trust score up certainly helped.

You have our most humble thanks Father. We will be respectful and attempt to cause as little disruption as possible. These souls should have the rest they deserve. Alexei bows and begins to head out to where the crypt was described by the Professor.

Mortimer nods gruffly and follows Alexei out. "I am glad that went well." he says quietly to him as they walk down the steps. He begins to check his gear as they travel, and when they arrive in the Restlands, he looks around him, eyes scanning the tombs and gravestones.

Looking around the restlands Vharg almost radiates excitement. Good! Finally get to pillage stores. Now, where is false crypt that Shran-Tok spoke of in book? Supposed to be at crossroad of Eversleep and the Black Path."

Moving through the Restlands, you don't have any trouble finding the crypt mentioned in the Professor's journal. Moving up to the door, you notice that the lock on the crypt door has been broken via some carefully applied acid. It had then been replaced on the door to look as if it were still intact. This must have been the Professor's doing before his last journal entry.

Moving inside, the air is close and the room is pitch black, darker than the night outside. Those without Darkvision will need to provide light sources, if they want to attempt the skill checks mentioned.

Perception DC 15:

You notice faint footprints in the dust along the floor. Given their singular nature and the age of them, you'd guess they're the Professor's.

if you get the Perception check, Survival DC 18:

You're able to follow the trail of footprints to a specific sarcaphogus within the crypt where they end in front and then turn around and leave the way they came.

Perrah waves her hand casually towards the doorway and a set of glowing torchlights dances around the entrance.

"The Lights of False Party will help those with poor eyesight. There are boot prints here and here. They lead into the crypt and could be the Professor's. Most likely given his journal. Perhaps we could follow them?"

The girl positively preens at proving useful. Her tail flicks out and back like a contented cat's.

Mortimer moves up to the entrance and examines the broken lock. "Clever old Petros." he says fondly. As the floating torches appear around him he nods at Perrah. "Thank you Perrah." he says in a hushed voice. His demeanor changes as he prepares to open the door to the crypt. He moves carefully, and his eyes, shaded by the brim of his hat against any light, glint in the shadows. He stalks into the darkness beyond, buckler ready on his left arm.

"Good eye Perrah. I concur" he whispers. He rises from where he was scrutinizing the footprints and looks around him at the age of the place and draws his Heavy Mace. Its head is made to look like a Wolf's head. "In a place like this expect Skeletons." he says, looking over at Vharg he steps up to the front of the group. "Blunt weapons are your friend in that case." Mortimer begins to follow the tracks to the sarcophagus.

looking over at Vharg he steps up to the front of the group. "Blunt weapons are your friend in that case." Mortimer begins to follow the tracks to the sarcophagus.

"Vharg understand. We too have Skeletons in the Hold. A reminder of our foolish alliance with the Whispering Tyrant." Vharg looks at the Guisarme wrapped in his meaty fists and shrugs. "Vharg not have club, so this will do." As he observes Mortimer and Perra scrutinize the tracks, Vharg nods to himself. "Vharg see it too. Tracks lead to that stone box. Must be cache Shran-Tok wrote of. We go see what inside." Fearlessly striding up to the sarcophagus Vharg gives the lid a powerful kick, stirring up a cloud a dust.

Perrah waves her hand casually towards the doorway and a set of glowing torchlights dances around the entrance.

Perfectly lovely, my dear. And now...

Vharg Half-Man wrote:

"Vharg see it too. Tracks lead to that stone box. Must be cache Shran-Tok wrote of. We go see what inside." Fearlessly striding up to the sarcophagus Vharg gives the lid a powerful kick, stirring up a cloud a dust.

...to business. My good Sir Vharg! If you're not going to allow me to finish my witticisms, then I can hardly imagine why you invited me along! Ilya threw a jovial elbow into Alexei's side. Come along, Master Dirven! The crypt seems to be where the party is...

...to business. My good Sir Vharg! If you're not going to allow me to finish my witticisms, then I can hardly imagine why you invited me along!

As the dust rises from the crypt and Vharg positions his leg back to give the sarcophagus another meaty blow, he looks over his shoulder and gives a deep growling chuckle at the Halfling. "Time for talk and time for act. You talk. I act. Make sense to Vharg" And with that Vharg kicks at the lid again.

As Vharg starts forwards Perrah is already using her detect magic spell to see if the Professor has left a trap. If so she steps quickly up when Vharg hits it once and gripping her Pentacle amulet calls out, "Vharg its not safe! Have a little magical protection!"

She touches his back fast, giving him the benefit of a resistance. The hue of green magic spreads like snakes all over Vharg's back, sinking like teeth inside. Disappearing into the half-orc armour and probably his flesh too. Providing a small gift in case of danger.

That is Perrah's arcane bond spell gone for today. On a zero level spell. Fool of a Took! Barbarian using his innate detect traps ability seems like my home game that does.

While there are some cringes, Vharg's kick does the job and gets the sarcophagus lid off, the stone tablet crashing to the floor with a loud bang. A cloud of dust kicks up and he gives you all a grin as you wait for it to settle.

Once the air finally clears a bit, you can see inside the casket are a number of items. Vharg moves to reach in to see what is present when his head suddenly whips around. Mortimer and Perrah also turn at a sound they hear.

Crawling out of cracks in the walls are 3 monstrous bugs, disturbed by the sudden sound of the tomb lid falling and drawn to your lights.

Map. Pardon the crudety of the map, I'll something a bit better up at some point hopefully, or at least if not now then in the future.

Once Mortimer and Vharg post their surprise round actions, the turn order will go Ilya, Vharg, Centipedes, Randu, Alexei, Mortimer, Perrah. As a reminder for those that have played with me and those of you new to my games, I clump inits between good guys and bad but otherwise with the PC's it's a first come first served basis. So if you're the first to post your action in that clump of PC's your action goes off first.

So in the above case, for Round 1 Ilya and Vharg will go in whatever order they post in, then I'll post the centipedes, then Randu, Alexei, Mortimer and Perrah will finish the round in whatever order they post in. Vharg, feel free to post your surprise round and Round 1 actions in the same post if you'd like to save time.

The faint scuttling sound intrudes on the sudden silence after the fall of the sarcophagus' lid, and Mortimer whirls around, ready for anything. The sight of crawling vermin makes him hiss and recoil slightly, but he has the presence of mind to lash out with his Mace against the one closest to him. "Alarm!" he bellows in the close confines of the crypt as he swings his Wolf-headed mace overhand at the creature while trying to shield Perrah from it. It is this protective gesture which throws off his aim, however and the swing goes wide.

As Vharg gives a final kick to the sarcophagus lid and it slides to the ground with a large crash Vharg gives a wide toothy grin. This is how it was supposed to be. No hiding or reading books. But as the clicking and skittering of insects begins to grow louder and louder inside of the crypt the grin falls off his face. "Attack! Vharg roars, a wild gleam appearing in his eyes Free Action: Rage (+4 Str/Con, +2 Will, -2 AC) Hoisting his Guisarme in both hands, he brings it crashing down with a powerful blow onto the giant bug. Standard Action: Power Attack

Raaaaaahhhh! As his blade falls down onto the carapace of his skittering foe splitting it in two, Vharg roars out in victory, but hearing the cries of distress he wheels around to see a second centipede threatening Mortimer and Perrah. With a warcry Vharg hefts his orc-wrought blade and screaming, charges the giant bug. Arrrrrggghhhh!!!!Charge: Centipede C2

Vharg roars with a fury the shocks you all and proceeds to lay about him with his guisarme. Two centipedes fall in sprays of ichor before they even have a chance to flee. The final centipede manages to try and bite Mortimer before it becomes engulfed in the flames of Alexei's concoction.

So that was a quick combat. Vharg kills the two centipedes near him, 1 during surprise round, 1 during Round 1. The third gets a bite off and then gets hit and fails the save for the alchemist bomb.

If anyone wants, they can make Heal checks to help aid Randu's poison saves (if necessary). The DC would be 13, if you make it you provide a +4 bonus to his save. You can attempt this 4 times for his last 4 saves. The +4 is not cummulative, so as long as one of you hits the DC he'll get the bonus.

EDIT: Never mind, he makes his save on the first turn that any of you could have aided him. So in summation, Randu you will have 3 Dex damage after the combat is over.

After only seconds the tomb is quiet again as the bugs die around you. The dust again settles and any other insects seem wisely to stay out of your light. Kicking the carcasses aside you again look into the crypt to see what spoils you have earned. Randu moves up stiffly beside you, his joints creaking slightly as he moves.

Inside the unnamed crypt are a number of items. There are 29 arrows, 10 of which glint in the light with silver arrowheads. There are also 7 small flasks that contain potions of some kind and 4 scrolls of rolled paper that most likely contain spells of some kind.

Lastly there is a thin darkwood case decorated with the image of a scarab with a single eye glaring from its back. Inside the case are a couple of curious items. Set in small velvet-lined indentations along the side of the box are 4 small vials that appear to be filled with tiny clouds of churning vapor. There are 6 empty indentations that indicate the case at one time held more of the vials.

Additionally there is a thin wooden board covered with letters, numbers and symbols set into a recess along with a brass planchette that seems to go along with it. It's a Ouija board. :-)

Intelligence check, DC 15:

You realize that you recognize the symbol on the darkwood case. It was on the cover of one of the books you were asked in the will to deliver to Lepidstadt.

Assuming someone is casting it, everything but the silver arrows radiates as magic.

"It is official, my friends. I've been poisoned. My apologies, terribly clumsy of me and all that." He tries to wave it off with style, what should I do, whine how I feel like an old man with joints aching and fingers hurting? PFah. What would the professor's soul think o such things when there is discovery to be had? He would endure a hundred hardships for a single secret.

Alexei looks over the potions and vials and says, gesturing to the flasks, These are potions of healing magic as well as two potions that will restore vigor to the body after it has been damaged or taken. I am unsure about the four small vials but I can say they are definitely not potions...at least none that I am familiar with.

Mortimer hooks his mace to his belt and puts a hand on Randu's shoulder. "Will you be alright?" he asks. He looks around at the others. "Do any of you have any skill in healing? I'm afraid I am not much use at that."

He steps over to the sarcophagus when he is assured Randu is okay for the time being. Looking inside, he sees the items and examines them as they are drawn forth. Nodding, he seems to be thinking things over before he speaks. "A valuable cache." he says, then sighs. "How many of you are able to use a bow?" he asks.

Perrah turns the darkwood case over then shrugs. "I've seen this symbol before. It was on one of those books destined for Lepidstadt. Perhaps a mark of the creator and writer? Maybe the professor himself. I'll check which book when we head home."

"No bows. They require strength to pull. Strength I will never possess. May I have a look at the a cloudy vial from this case? By the way the silver arrrows are the only items not magical."

Mortimer sorts through the various crossbow bolts, but raises his head when Randu mentions the restoration potion. "I think we better trust to some rest and care to deal with your wounds, Randu." he says with an apologetic look. "No knowing when we may need the potion's magic in an emergency situation."

"As soon as we can get the magical properties of these bolts identified, we can distribute them to those who can best make us of them, but you all need to know that one can stab an enemy with one of these in a pinch. It's not an elegant weapon, but when you are up against a creature against whom your normal armaments are useless, these may save your life." he says. He then picks three silver-headed bolts out. "In the meantime, if nobody minds, I will add these to my ammunition."

Vharg: You don't notice anything specific. The only clear thing that may have been taken are the missing vials from the wood case, as there are empty spots for more. Other than that, there's no way of telling what the professor may or may not have grabbed from here.

Looking into the casket Vharg spits at the ground in frustration. "Bah! Crossbow bolts? Vharg not know Shran-Tok to favor such things. At least Mortimer could use, right? And Perra you smart, What is that board thing?" Kneeling at the Giant Centipede Vharg takes out a large dagger and begins to hack away at a mandible. Make good trophy"Randu, you feel ok? Sometimes Shamans have snakes or spiders bite them to cause omen dreams, you see any vision when bit?" Brandishing a ichor covered mandible, Vharg gives the group a toothy grin. "Make good necklace, charm, go next to lucky stone Vharg found at base Cenotaph day he rescued Shran-Tok!"